Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
AN expat friend of the Whisperer was left feeling a little shortchanged after a trip to his local HSBC bank to deposit a birthday cheque from his elderly aunt back in his native Blighty.
After filling out the deposit form and taking it to the cashier, he was told that he could not deposit the cheque himself and needed to speak with a personal banker. After waiting 15 minutes for the privilege, the personal banker informed him that his cheque for 25 pounds would cost BD10 to deposit since the amount was in a foreign currency.
After swallowing the bitter pill that his birthday cheque was now worth the princely sum of around BD5.400 he agreed to the transaction and signed the form.
Soon after, the teller came back and said the signatures didn’t match and he had to sign it again, despite having three different forms of photographic ID on hand to prove his increasingly frustrated identity.
After all this, the personal banker informed him that his cheque would clear in four to six weeks – best avoid splurging on a Christmas present until then!
